Category: Spain

The making of Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, the outsize personalities who inspired it, and the vast changes it wrought on the literary world

In the summer of 1925, Ernest Hemingway and a clique of raucous companions traveled to Pamplona, Spain, for the town’s infamous running of the bulls. Then, over the next six weeks, he channeled that trip’s maelstrom of drunken brawls, sexual rivalry, midnight betrayals, and midday hangovers into his groundbreaking novel The Sun Also Rises. This revolutionary work redefined modern literature as much as it did his peers, who would forever after be called the Lost Generation. But the full story of Hemingway’s legendary rise has remained untold until now.

Lesley Blume resurrects the explosive, restless landscape of 1920s Paris and Spain and reveals how Hemingway helped create his own legend. He made himself into a death-courting, bull-fighting aficionado; a hard-drinking, short-fused literary genius; and an expatriate bon vivant. Blume’s vivid account reveals the inner circle of the Lost Generation as we have never seen it before, and shows how it still influences what we read and how we think about youth, sex, love, and excess.

Cover and blurb via amazon

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This month, Spain Book Review goes a tad off-road, with Everybody Behaves Badly. Not strictly about Spain or written in Spain, but since it’s about Ernest Hemingway getting his Spain on, I figured it works just fine. The book covers both Spain and Hemingway’s time in Paris. By 1921, Hemingway was already on his way to literary famousness, but was in need of the great American novel. So when handsome young Ernest headed to Spain with a troupe of friends in 1925, their trip would end in the genius that is The Sun Also Rises.

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The book starts out with the early years in Paris and how Hemingway felt the desire to add a novel to his career, since he had only published short stories at that point. Hemingway and his new wife Hadley go to Paris, as members of the lost generation, and the author goes into full detail of the lifestyle of a man in need of literary success. The book focuses heavily on details of Hemingway’s early life, telling both a story and writing a biography in one.

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Everyone knows the story of The Sun Also Rises (this link has my review if you don’t) – a group of friends go to Pamplona, enjoy some bullfighting and a random fishing trip, have affairs, drink waaaay too much and the whole escapade turns to hell. Everybody Behaves Badly is the real life excursion. Hemingway and wife Hadley went to Pamplona in 1923 and 1924, and in 1925, went with a group of friends – Harold Loeb, Duff Twysden, Bill Smith, Pat Guthrie and Donald Ogden Stewart. What unfolds is what Hemingway could later turn into his famous novel. Hemingway, now famous for womanising, was with his wife but was interested in Duff Twysden, as was writer Harold Loeb. And we all know how well romantic rivalry mixes with alcohol and bravado. The back story of the fateful 1925 trip is spelled out in great detail as the members of the lost generation explore sexual freedom and creative processes on what was supposed to be writing trip about bullfighting but ends up with jealousy and fist-fighting.

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The last portion of the book is dedicated to the editing and publishing of The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway’s life is really taking off, and his wife (and now young son) are not fitting in with his choices. Hemingway nicely starts an affair with Pauline Pfeiffer. Hemingway ruthless cut and edited his book to create a great piece of work, and decides to also edit out his own wife. Hemingway needed to get in with a new publisher, Scribner’s, a challenge in itself, all while working greats of the day, like F. Scott Fitzgerald, to create a book which has been in print for 90 years now.

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Hemingway’s life has been viewed from every angle, but this, while not all new info, tells the story of the pivotal time of Hemingway’s life. Much is made of his life during the Spanish Civil War, but this gives us a new insight to Hemingway in Paris, his early romantic life and his lifestyle in these early days. My dream Spanish road trip (a game played a few years back) was with Hemingway and Dalí, and reading this book made me even more convinced I made the right choices. My own bullfighting research trips don’t get this wild (thank God), and I’m glad to have read this behind-the-scenes moment in time. Perfect for lovers of Spain, the 1920’s, Hemingway, or like me, all three.

El Caudillo. The Generalissimo. Supreme patriotic military hero by the Grace of God. Whatever you want to call him, Franco was a short man with a penchant for moustaches and murder. When people think of dictators, they think of Franco’s mate Hitler, or more current dictators such as Mugabe or the North Koreans with bad haircuts. Some would say Franco was a coward in comparison, or more moderate. If you turn from the word dictator and instead to fascism, the dictionary will give you Franco as a definition. Call Franco whatever you like, but November 20 is the day to celebrate his slow and painful death. The day in 1975 when cava and champagne bottles were popping faster than overheated popcorn. That day, Spaniards, at home and in exile, could finally shake off their not-so wonderful leader.

Born in December 1892 in Galicia, Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde was one in a long line of relatives in the navy. But instead Franco chose the army in 1907, and worked his way through the ranks through wars in Morocco, and was shot in the stomach in 1916, and lost a testicle (it is rumoured). He continued fighting and winning medals, and by the mid-twenties, he was ranked high enough to be before the King in Madrid. The royal family got run out of the country when the Second Spanish Republic took hold in 1931, but it wasn’t until Franco’s cozy position at the army academy in Zaragoza being extinguished did Franco start getting angry. Posted to the Balearic Islands for a few years, Franco got a taste of killing his own people during the miner’s strike in Asturias in 1934. He crushed innocents defending their rights, and the left and right side of politics only continued to divide as bitterness set into the young Republic. After the 1936 elections, all went to hell, and Franco found himself leading an army from Morocco into Spain to depose the Republican government.

Fast forward through three years of brutal civil war though 1936-1939 (if I explain that in detail, we will be here forever), and Franco’s Nationalist army, backed by fascists, Carlists, monarchists, any right-wing nutball group really, had defeated the Republicans, with the communists, anarchists and general plucky young men and women from Spain and overseas fighting for freedom. After gross atrocities, upwards of 200,000 people were killed. Franco was the leader of Spain, a nation decimated by force and hate. The short, moustached, one-testicled Hitler lover was in control.

Spain was no picnic. So many fled the country, many to France, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina… basically anywhere but Spain. Artists, teachers, bright minds, and those of the left-wing all ran for their lives. Spain skipped the Second World War after basically being in pieces, claiming neutrality, though Franco loved Hitler’s style of hating. While Franco was claiming that Spain had struck gold and all would be well, 200,000 people starved to death in the first half of the 1940’s. The whole decade was spent rounding up people who had supported the Republican side of the civil war, and up to 50,000 were killed, or put in concentration camps, or just ‘disappeared’.

Franco was brutal and bizarre. He could be easily played with wild schemes. But his own plan, being anti-Communist, won him love from the United States. They were allowed to set up military bases, Spain got money and their love for Hitler, Mussolini, etc was swept under the carpet. Spain and its technocrats were keen to move on and make Spain wealthy and prosperous again, though naturally, all spoils only went to the people at the top of the food chain. Spain’s Años de Desarrollo, years of development began through 1961-1973, with Franco promoting tourism, bullfighting, flamenco, everything super-Spanish. Financially, things got much better, but since everyone was doing so poorly, ‘much better’ still wasn’t great. Many Spaniards were still living overseas. Riots broke out at universities, women were still horribly oppressed, with divorce, abortions and birth control illegal. They couldn’t have bank accounts without male oversight, and couldn’t even leave a violent husband, real middle-ages style of living. The church was sticking its evil nose into everything, being gay was illegal, local languages were banned, and nuns loved hitting kids in schools and orphanages.

By 1969, Franco was getting old and handing more power to the lecherous bastards who profited from his reign. It was time to choose an heir. Franco had one daughter (though that has been questioned, given the testicle incident, but never mind), and Franco chose Juan Carlos de Bourbon, grandson to the Spanish King exiled to France in 1931. The young man, dutifully married to a Greek princess, would be modelled and educated in the ways of Francoism – basically being a murderous douche.

Even as Franco was getting super old in the 1970’s, he was still being real bastard, handing down executions just months before his death. Young people were rising up, wanting change in their country, and groups such as ETA wanted their regions’ independence back, as did Catalonia, Galicia, Valencia – basically everyone. In the final months of Franco’s reign, countries were having protests against his execution decisions, Mexico tried to have Spain kicked from the UN, and the Pope wasn’t interested in him anymore, which isn’t cool for a Catholic nation. But on October 1st, Franco have a hate speech from his palace and left in tears. From that moment, his number was up.

Pneumonia, heart attacks and then internal bleeding took hold. Machines kept the old man alive and drugged. Doctors worked day and night for the man who let people be shot by firing squads or starve to death. But after 35 days of pumping life into a frail old man, on November 20, 1975, Franco finally passed away.

The parties started, in Spain and all around the world, where Spaniards had waited for the day. Half a million people went to see his body, just to see the proof for themselves (this figure remains disputed, like all figures during Spain’s 20th century). Spain, which had been lying dormant, could live again. The protege, Juan Carlos, was crowned King, and tossed Francoism aside, opting for democracy. None of that was an easy ride as the road to the Transition began.

The trouble is, those killed during and after the war are still buried in their makeshift graves. Those lecherous wannabes who circled Franco did not lose their place in politics, and among the wealthy and elite. Those who were evil were all given amnesty, to smooth the road for democracy. Justice was never served; Spain’s hard questions remained unanswered for so many. Those who did wrong have grown old, as those who were harmed. The varying levels of independence of Spain’s 17 regions still causes headaches. Does Spain still need to ask questions of its past, or is the future hard enough?

Either way, pop a cork off champagne today, at least to celebrate the freedom Spaniards would have felt on 20 November, 1975.

This Saturday, you will be able to track me down in my natural habitat at Botany Library in Auckland. I am giving an author talk (see right sidebar for deets) and anyone is welcome to roll up and throw questions at me (not books, just words – nice words). I’m not one for giving speeches and have no intention of writing a speech, rather I will talk about books, writing, research, reading, reviewing and general Spain-ness. My children have kindly(!) offered to play photographers.

As this is not the kind of thing I normally do (even at smaller gatherings, I tend to shut up, so me, a microphone and an audience is extremely daunting), I have decided to be super fun and coincide the chat with a free book offer. This is a one-time only deal that hasn’t been done, and probably won’t be done in the future. For five days, Thursday 18 until Tuesday 23 June, the Secrets of Spain trilogy, containing Blood in the Valencian Soil, Vengeance in the Valencian Water and Death in the Valencian Dust will be free on Kindle. Feel free to grab your own copy, and by all means, review me, as a trilogy or on any individual book. I want to hear thoughts on my work (no need to be a troll, though, there’s enough of that already).

Check your time zone for the special deal

UTC (GMT) – Thursday 18 June 07:00 until Tuesday 23 June 06:59

Pacific Standard Time – Thursday 18 June 0:01 until Monday 22 June 23:59

New Zealand Standard Time – Thursday 18 June 19:00 until Tuesday 23 June 18:59

European Daylight Savings Time – Thursday 18 June 09:00 until Tuesday 23 June 08:59

May 8 sees the release of the third and final installment of the Secrets of Spain series, entitled Death in the Valencian Dust. To celebrate the long-awaited final part of the Beltrán Morales puzzle, there are free books up for grabs!

Spain: September, 1975 – After 39 years as dictator, Francisco Franco is dying, but his parting words to the nation are leaving a bitter legacy. Jaime Morales, brother-in-law and sword handler for Spain’s greatest bullfighter, Paco Beltrán, finds himself caught up with a young Basque woman named Alazne, who seeks political change with plans of violence. Executions are handed down, and Spain collapses into turmoil in the shadow of their leader’s death and the crowning of a new king. Jaime, Alazne and entire Morales family have to face who they are and what they believe…

It’s 2014 and the final season for Spain’s favourite celebrity bullfighter, Cayetano Beltrán Morales. Guided by his father Paco and Uncle Jaime, Cayetano is reluctant to let go of his magnificent career. His wife, Luna Montgomery, has plans as she transitions from mother of the couple’s four children to leader of the Beltrán family, while fighting Spain’s ‘pact of forgetting’. Cayetano’s sister, Sofía, has rising political ambitions in Valencia as Spain crowns a new king. The final ghosts of Escondrijo, Luna’s Valencian farm, can finally speak the truth. But the Beltrán Morales family must at last recognise their identity, where they sit in Spain’s turbulent present, and their potentially fractured future.

Bodies need to be laid to rest, truths must be acknowledged, and destinies are up in the air as Luna Montgomery finds her long-awaited place in her Spanish family. But death still lurks in the Valencian mountains…

The same day as the release of Death in the Valencian Dust, sees the release of the Secrets of Spain trilogy, all together in one edition, for anyone who is starting the saga, or anyone who wishes to have this limited edition release.

To celebrate, 20 copies of Death in the Valencian Dust and 5 copies of the special Secrets of Spain edition will be given away in the ebook format of your choice. To enter, just put your name in the comment section below, along with the answer to this easy question about the series –

What is the home country of Luna Montgomery and her grandmother, Scarlett?

All names and details will not be published; all comments remain private. The winners will be published on Friday 8 May.

Also, from May 7 for four days only, both Blood in the Valencian Soil and Vengeance in the Valencian Water, the first two books in the series, will be free on all Amazon sites worldwide.

As 2014 shuffles off, the list of books I have read has piled high yet again. I lost count once I passed 100 books back in August or so. I’m always reading, though I only review books on this site I think are worthy of addition. Books I dislike get tossed and forgotten; I don’t ‘do’ bad reviews here. I also read plenty of books which are not based in Spain, written in Spanish (or translated) or created by Spanish authors, but I review those in different places. This site is purely for my Spanish reads. Here is the list of the books I deemed worthy of adding to my site this year. These are books brand new, yet some are 70+ years old; some are new to me, some I have read five or more times. I haven’t had to time to load all my reviews (I’m attempting to publish my next book in April 2015), but these reviews make the 2014 list anyway.

‘The Forge’, ‘The Track’ and ‘The Clash’ by Auturo Barea. I may review at some stage, maybe not. So much brilliance, how can it be reviewed? My favourite reads of the year, and I managed to get first editions of all three books.

If I read your book (or your suggestion) and you don’t see it here, let me know. The review may be lost in my archive of posts. If the book in question was one I hated, you will have already known that from my honest twitter feed! If you have any suggestions, or would like to request your own book to be added to the list for 2015, please let me know.